Ingvar travels back to the refugee reception center in Przemyśl: - It feels as the right thing - to do this now

Ingvar Torsvik Myrvollen has been at home for just over two weeks, now he is ready for a new month as a volunteer at a refugee reception center close to the Ukrainian border

Ingvar Torsvik Myrvollen recently returned home after four weeks relief work on the border with Ukraine. On Sunday he travels back.

Myrvollen came home on April 8, the plan was to arrive on time to the performance revue (end of high school) for the daughter and her classmates. It did not work. When she was on stage, her father was standing at Gardermoen main airport near Oslo without luggage from Warszaw.

Balance sheet

- Your daughter’s/classmates show and lack of luggage on the one hand; and war and hardship on the other. How has it been to come home and balance the two worlds?

- I think both the family and myself experienced that I was mentally still in Medyka. And it is both painful and good; well in the sense that it's about care and commitment, but it's clear that when you're at home, it's okay to have the focus at home too. I got some hints from the family, he admits.

He has done fundraising while he is at home, and at the time of writing has received almost 83,000 Norwegian Kroner NOK (almost 8.700 US Dollars). On Sunday he travels down to southeast Poland again. He describes the need for helping hands as enormous.

- Almost insatiable. The war is moving a little, but is still raging. Then you want to help. There are many ways to do it, but I feel that what I do makes a difference.

Myrvollen previously said that he was considering enlisting in the service of the International Brigade in Ukraine. He ended up hitting it off.

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EFFICIENT: Ingvar Torsvik Myrvollen drives his own car to Poland this time, and a trailer makes him more efficient. XL-bygg (building goods) and Lill Therese Kristiansen line up and lend trailer.

- What made you consider it?

- It came when I watched on TV, that a country smaller than Russia is attacked for no reason at all - it stands between dictatorship and democracy, civilization and barbarism. One thing is to wish the Ukrainians all the best, but I feel it is our war they are also fighting. But now I ended up not doing it.

- Your family was probably happy about that?

- Yes. I must emphasize that I was not entirely sure. But I had bought a helmet and bulletproof vest to be willing to do that.

Fundraising

Myrvollen pulls out several, apparently small, individual levers that represent the strongest memories.

- A lady in her 50s and 60s who sat with her family and just cried. I stopped and tried to sit down with her, but I do not know the language, so I just had to try to show care and empathy without words. There are also very young mothers with young children who are alone. I remember a young woman, about 19 years old, clearly pregnant and two small children around her. There is a feeling that I would like to do even more.

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NECESSITY: When 1,000 people can come to the reception center in one day, it goes without saying that it can be difficult to maintain personal hygiene. This man represents a French aid organization that provided 30 showers and provided water supply. - They are cramped, but you get to do what you have to, says Ingvar Torsvik Myrvollen.

Already when he returned home from the first stay, he felt a strong desire to travel down again.

- But I had not put two dashes under the answer. Because it is financially challenging; one does not make money and the bills have to be paid. So in the fundraising, I am open to the fact that some of the funds will go to me getting paid mortgages and interest. There has been an understanding of that.

But primarily the money goes to help Ukrainians, and their helpers.

- The refugees need, for example, birth control pills for girls and women who have been raped. There are several who help. Otherwise, I will buy necessities such as food, diapers and suitcases. The latter may sound strange, but the refugees come with cardboard boxes and plastic bags, they have rushed with them what they could at short notice. Then underwear and socks are needed for children and women. I want to buy some in Poland, because it is cheaper. And then one must help the helpers.

- There are a number of young, unestablished people, who need a place to live and maybe help with the journey.

- Feels right

This time, Myrvollen is driving his own car downhill, and the plan is to be there until 31 May.

What happens next, he does not know.

- I have some ideas and plans, I have, among other things, applied for studies. There have also been some inquiries that I will address afterwards. There are some who think I am good at sales, and there have also been offers within tourism and financial management. I really appreciate that, and will also apply more actively even when I return.

He takes ‘a little bet’:

- It may sound a bit to ‘high words’, but when I once leave this planet I would like to feel that it was the right choice what I did here. It feels very right to do this now, when I am between two jobs.